The Last Domino
by Crystal Rose of Pollux
Summary: Dark AU. A sorceress has cloaked the world in shadow and claimed it, but the Yu-Gi-Oh gang are at the forefront of the resistance. This is a series of related vignettes that tells their story. Mostly Joey-centric, but featuring other characters, also.
1. Such a Terrible Thing

Author's Note: After reading LuckyLadybug's LiveJournal ficlits which featured a haunting AU, I became inspired to write a dark AU project of my own, and it was written with her encouragement. Many thanks to her for plot help, as well as letting me use the OC cat character, Oreo! The actual AU project, "In the Glow of the Night," is LiveJournal only, and its focus will be on a different fandom, with the Yu-Gi-Oh gang playing a supporting role in it. But I wanted to write their story, also, which is how this series of vignettes got started. As always, the characters aren't mine (except for the odd OC), and the story is. Cameos and references to other fandoms are intentional.

* * *

Normally, Joey Wheeler never had a problem with falling asleep. But he was living in a Domino City that hadn't been normal for five years—a Domino City that had awoken one morning to the rule of a mad—but dangerous—sorceress whose powers warped the world into one of perpetual darkness.

She had come seemingly out of nowhere. And as she exerted more and more control over the world, her every whim became the law. And now Joey Wheeler, as one of the members of the resistance, was a wanted man. The sorceress would not tolerate any insubordination; she had placed a bounty upon Joey and the other members of the resistance, most of whom were Joey's closest friends.

Joey sat up now in his sleeping bag; the male members of the resistance all bunked in sleeping bags in a room in an old, underground warehouse that had been owned by Kaiba Corp. Well, all except Seto Kaiba himself, of course, since he was not willing to swallow his pride to this extent; he had his own bed in a separate room of the warehouse. While Joey complained about it, he had to admit that it was fair; it was Seto's money that was singlehandedly funding the resistance and keeping them fed. Kaiba Manor was not safe; the sorceress's minions had taken it—and the Kaiba Corporation building—over, not willing to allow it to be used as a resistance stronghold. The mansion was now populated by the witch's minions, stuffing their faces with all of the food they could find, and bringing any people inside to the sorceress herself. Mokuba had been one of them.

Mokuba had not been a member of the resistance; Seto was not about to let him get involved in something such as that. But the witch had known about the boy's close ties to the members, and she had attempted to interrogate him. The boy had bravely refused to speak, and the witch dealt with him in her own cruel way, encasing the boy in stone with her magic and having him sent back to his brother in that state. Seto Kaiba had never quite fully recovered from the loss of his brother; he was far more forlorn and less arrogant than he had been before. The sorceress' act had caused him to fully join the resistance, though, and his technical knowledge was put to work, helping create cloaking devices to hide their presence, as well as other projects that could hopefully be used in an eventual fight.

Joey stood up now, unable to go back to sleep as the weight of the last five years pressed heavier upon him. Mokuba had not been the only friend they had lost, and it was high time that he paid a visit—and his respects—to them.

He gave a quick glance to his friends still asleep.

"Go on, Joey," a voice said, softly. "I'll look after them."

Joey turned, abruptly. He hadn't expected Atem to be awake, but the old Pharaoh's spirit was indeed unable to sleep, either. The witch's magic, in addition to cloaking the world in shadow, had somehow reopened the door to the spirit world, allowing Atem to return and join the resistance.

Yugi had been overjoyed to see his old friend—it was a joy the young man so desperately deserved; he hadn't heard from his grandfather since the sorceress took over, and it was far too risky to go and look for him. The Turtle Game Shop was also taken over; the witch had expected it to be used as a stronghold for the resistance, as well. But there was no telling what had become of Solomon Muto—if he had escaped, of if he was somewhere in a dungeon… or if he, too, was now nothing more than a stone statue.

But a part of Yugi's old joyful nature had returned with the Pharaoh. Yugi had immediately asked Atem to help lead them in the fight against the sorceress, but the old Pharaoh took a look at his friend and said, "No, Yugi; this time, I am following you. Now, it's your turn to save the world." With Atem's nomination, Yugi was chosen to be one of the main leaders of the resistance.

Joey gave the Pharaoh a nod, slipping out the door and into the hallway, heading past the room where the girls all bunked, and then past the food storage area. His heart skipped a beat as two pairs of eyes glanced at him from the darkness.

"Hey, Thief, don't forget we're rationing that stuff…" he muttered.

Yami Bakura, who had also been brought back by the sorceress' magic, merely grunted in reply as he and a cat gnawed on some chicken. Freed of Zorc's entity, the old thief was only aiding in the resistance because he claimed he could not stand to see that unctuous witch rule the shadow-covered world when he could've done a better job of it himself. But, digging deeper, one could see that the thief was quite concerned with Ryou Bakura's welfare in this whole ordeal.

Joey glared at the thief for some more time before heading up the stairs, which led to a trapdoor in what seemed to be a deserted old above-ground warehouse. The witch's minions had been through his part of the building before, but thanks to Seto's cloaking devices, they had not yet found the trapdoor which led to their base. He prayed that they never would.

In the above-ground warehouse, at all times, was at least one member of the resistance who stood guard. They did this in rotation, and now it was the turn of an oddly-eared foreign young man with blond hair. He had arrived in Domino some time after the sorceress took over, claiming that she had taken someone dear to him, and was willing to ally himself with whoever was fighting against her. It had taken some time for the wary duelists to trust him, but the youth had proved himself after giving them valuable information about the witch's origins and her whereabouts. The young man, as he stood guard, was softly playing a haunting tune on a blue ocarina.

Joey listened to the tune for a moment, suppressing a shudder as he opened the door of the warehouse, heading out into Domino Pier. Memories flowed through his head of the by-gone days of light and peace when he, his sister, and their friends would come here to spend the days until the sun set into the Pacific Ocean.

But those days were gone. Joey hadn't seen the sun since the sorceress arrived, cloaking the world with a black sky that sometimes cracked with red lightning. He missed the way things used to be. He missed the friends he had lost.

Joey began to run from the pier; the memories were twisting his heart as they danced just out of reach. Those memories were once reality; now they were just a distant fantasy. He ran from them as he tore through the streets of Domino City, heading deep into the wooded area of Clock Tower Park. This was the other secret hideaway spot of the resistance, for the vegetation had been somehow left alone. But this place wasn't used as a base; it was a memorial.

Low tree limbs, twisted together by time, served as a door that led to the hallowed ground. Joey slowly pushed the branches aside to gain entry, his heart twisting further as he beheld the stone faces and forms of friends.

Mokuba stood in one spot of the makeshift memorial, his stone expression fiery and defiant as he had been when facing the witch. Seto had been here often to visit his brother; but the most solemn evidence of this lay in the boy's stone hand—Seto had placed one of his cherished Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards there.

Now Joey glanced into the stone face of Odion Ishtar. He, Marik, and Ishizu had made the dangerous journey to Domino City, determined to aid their friends in the resistance. The sorceress had toyed with them, turning the paths that led to the city into a veritable labyrinth where her minions waited at the turns. They had been reaching the city limits when the witch herself appeared. She had cast her spell at Marik and Ishizu, but Odion had pushed them out of the way, taking the curse himself and becoming encased. His face showed the deep concern for his adopted siblings. He would never know that they were both alive and well, aiding the resistance as they had so badly wanted, but mourning him as they struggled through each day without him.

Now Joey came face to face with the friend whose loss he had felt the deepest. The stone form of Tristan Taylor stood in the center of the area, for he had been the very first member of the resistance to become encased, and it wasn't too far from this spot where it had happened.

The sorceress had arrived, making a speech as she stood beneath the clock, proclaiming that she was now the ruler of the Second Age of Shadows, and that she would see to it that all who supported her reign would be well taken care of.

The members of the resistance had been in the audience that day, and as the witch talked and talked, Tristan's rage had grown and grown until the young man had snapped. He had run at the witch to attack her… to stop her… to do something to rid them of this wicked woman…! But the sorceress had turned, with an amused smirk, and a blinding flash had surrounded Tristan. When it had cleared, all that was left of him was the statue that now stood before Joey—Tristan, with his fist drawn back in a brave, but futile, strike. The witch addressed the crowd again, toting Tristan's fate as an example of what would happen to anyone who attempted to resist her rule.

"Why'd you have to go and do it…?" Joey now muttered to the statue, trying to dry the tears that were forming in his eyes. "You knew you wouldn't have pulled it off; why did you do it…!?"

"…Joey…?" a female voice asked.

Joey turned, coming face to face with a familiar blonde woman.

"Mai? Why are you here…?"

"Same reason you are, I guess…" she said, sadly. She glanced at Tristan. "Sometimes I wonder if he ever forgave me for what I did during the Orichalcos fiasco."

"Of course he did…" Joey said, softly. "Tristan wouldn't have dared to admit it, but he was happy that you came back." He clenched a fist. "Ten thousand times, I think about that day we lost him. I was right next to him, Mai. I could've reached out to grab his sleeve and stop him… I could've tripped him… I could've even knocked him out; if I'd just done something, he would still be with us and not standing here as a rock!"

Mai hesitated at first, but then place her hand on Joey's shoulder.

"How could any of us have known what Tristan had been planning…?" she asked. "It all happened so fast…" She trailed off, her eyes traveling towards another statue standing several feet from Tristan.

"Him, too…" Joey said, following Mai's gaze to the statue of Valon. "We could've saved him, too…"

"He didn't even have to join the resistance; we even asked him to stay out of it…" she said. "He joined because I was a member, and he dragged Alister and Raphael in, too… And he had to insist on coming along when we had to raid Kaiba Corporation…"

Joey looked away. Seto had needed some equipment that had been left in the old building, which had been overrun by skeletal monsters ever since the witch had arrived. But he and Mai had volunteered to get the equipment, and Valon had decided to go with them.

It had been a mammoth task, trying to sneak through Kaiba Corporation while avoiding the monsters—even with the knowledge of the passageways Seto had told them about. They had retrieved the equipment and were trying to make the trek outside when one of the monsters spotted them.

Soon, a whole squad had started to chase them, and, alerted to this, the witch herself had appeared out of the shadows as the trio made a dash for the elevator, the sorceress watching as the monsters' skeletal hands grabbed at the two men; Mai had made it to the elevator, and was looking on in horror.

The sorceress had started to approach them, and it looked as though that both Joey and Valon were both done for, but Valon, working with what little leverage he had, had managed to knock one of the monsters holding him into the one holding Joey.

"Go!" Valon had ordered, once the creature's grip had lessened. "Get that stuff back to Kaiba!"

"Are you crazy!?" Joey had yelled, as Mai pulled him into the elevator.

But Valon just gave him a brave smile.

"Look after her," he had said, softly. He had managed a thumbs-up as the elevator doors closed.

And that was how the witch had encased him, with that brave smile and the thumbs-up forever frozen in time. It was through a miracle that they managed to get the statue out of Kaiba Corp later.

Joey snapped back to the present as Mai spoke again.

"When I came back to Domino, the place was so bright and full of hope," she said, her voice slightly shaky. "I had felt that things were finally going to get better, for the first time since what happened with Dartz. And for a while, they did get better… But…" She trailed off, blinking back her own tears as she glanced at the statues and at the shadowy skies. "What happened…?" she asked, in a pained whisper, as she allowed a solitary tear to fall. "How did things go so wrong…!?"

Both she and Joey now hugged each other in their sorrow.

"I don't know, Mai…" he said, his voice choking up. "But we've gotta keep fighting, somehow… If not for ourselves, then… for them…" He glanced back at the statues of the four friends they had lost. "We can't let their sacrifices be in vain. And maybe someday, when we actually beat that witch… maybe then we can bring back something of the old Domino."

Both Joey and Mai had wondered frequently if the sorceress' stone-encasing spell could somehow be reversed if she was defeated, but they didn't want to hope. Nothing could be more devastating than hoping for a chance to have their lost friends back, only to have their hope betrayed.

The two gave a start as the sound of piercing sirens filled the air.

"Sounds like someone was seen wandering after curfew…" Mai said, with a shudder. "I hope they get away."

"Me, too…" said Joey. "And maybe we should get back to the base before we're spotted next…"

Mai nodded and followed him as he reopened the branch doorway that led to the darker Domino that they had come to know over the past five years.

_With everything that's happened_, the young man thought. _I'm glad I still have you, Mai_.


	2. Look at the Scenery

Joey and Mai had successfully snuck back to Domino Pier unseen. But the trickiest part of their return to the resistance base began now; the Pier was highly monitored by the Sorceress' minions. Trying to sneak back to their warehouse would be no easy task.

The two ducked into the shadows of a stack of crates as a bipedal monster lumbered by, sniffing and snorting the air with its snout. Joey's hand went to his deck; he could easily summon one of his Duel Monsters to deal with this, but he ran the risk of attracting the attention of more of the same creatures.

The creature took a couple steps towards their hiding place, and the tension continued to grow. But suddenly, the creature's ears turned as a slew of taunts and insults came its way.

_I know those voices_, Joey realized.

The creature was now running towards the small group of people standing at the edge of the pier, laughing and yelling at it. It charged, foolishly, and the ringleader of the group proceeded to counter it with a full body tackle. Once the creature had fallen, the others grabbed its monstrous limbs and threw it into the water. The monster roared, but soon had to swim for its life as some of the water monsters now moved to attack it, sensing an intrusion into their territory.

"Now's our chance…" said Mai.

"We'll never make it," said Joey. "Those aren't allies, Mai. I know them."

Mai immediately had questions, but she knew that this wasn't the time or the place to bring them up.

"We can try, anyway," she said. "They're humans, at least…"

"That can be debated…" Joey muttered, as he stared at the all-too-familiar laughing face of the ringleader. "But maybe you're right about trying. Come on…"

He led the way towards where the pier-side warehouses were, but the ringleader of the gang, sensing the presence of more people, turned with a scowl.

"Hold it right there!" he snarled.

Joey flinched as a flashlight beam was trained on him and Mai.

"Well, well, well…" the ringleader said, highly amused. "Wheeler."

"Well, well, well," Joey countered, sounding more confident than he really was. "Hirutani."

Hirutani's flunkies now chuckled upon seeing Joey again.

"Who's she, Wheeler? Your girlfriend?" one asked, sneering at Mai.

"Back off," Mai warned him, scowling.

"Look, Hirutani, I don't want any trouble," said Joey, moving to shield Mai from them. "Just let us get on our way, and we won't bother you."

"Sorry to disappoint you, Wheeler," Hirutani said. "But trouble is just what you crept into. You're bothering me—you should be one of us again, and the fact that you aren't concerns me deeply."

"'Again'…?" Mai asked, her eyes widening.

"It's not somethin' I'm proud of—believe me," Joey said to her, in an undertone.

Mai gave an understanding nod. There were things she had done that she was not proud of, either.

"All the same, I don't think we're getting here without a fight…" she said.

"Yeah, but we're outnumbered five to one…" Joey replied, scanning the group. "Here's what we'll do; I'll hold them off, and you head back to the hideout."

"Hold them off!? Joey, there're ten of those creeps—you won't stand a chance!" she hissed.

"You have any other ideas?" Joey asked.

Mai bit her lip. No, she didn't. But she wasn't about to abandon Joey, either.

"What's it going to be, Wheeler?" asked Hirutani. "You going to rejoin us, or are you doing this the hard way? And feel free to bring your girlfriend along with you when you rejoin."

"Bite your tongue!" Mai quipped.

"I'm not making the same mistake I did before when I joined you," Joey said, his hands clenching into fists. "My friends need me more than you ever did, but now more than ever. We're tryin' to stop that Sorceress and bring Domino back to the way it was before. And if you even had a sliver of a conscience, you'd respect that. But you clearly don't; I saw the way you played around with that creature; this is all part of a big game to you! Don't you understand that the Sorceress isn't going to treat you any differently just because you're not a part of the resistance!? If her minions see you out here breaking curfew, she could have you locked up—or if you're really unlucky, encased in stone! And even though you'd be out of my hair if that happened, I'm too nice of a guy to wish that on anyone—even you!"

"How noble…" Hirutani said, sarcastically. He turned to his flunkies. "Get him."

"Run, Mai!" Joey yelled.

The creeps all came at once, and Joey raised his clenched fists, fighting back against his assailants. He wasn't sure how he was going to get out of this; hopefully he could make a break for it after Mai made it to safety. He wouldn't have much time; the commotion would bring the Sorceress' minions in a hurry, and then they'd all get captured. And since he, Joey, was a wanted man, the Sorceress would have no hesitation in encasing him in stone.

Joey ignored the battering that he was getting, determined to dish it back. But suddenly, he realized that he was getting help. Mai had not left; she was fighting alongside him. She had taken lessons in karate back when she had served as the Duel Monsters player aboard a casino cruise ship in order to ward off overly-amorous mashers. Now she was using her hands to deal blows across her opponents' shoulders that sent them retreating from her. And she wasn't even breaking a nail.

Despite himself, Joey grinned. _What a girl_… he thought. He was now warding off his assailants, who realized that between Joey and Mai, they were up against more than they had bargained for.

As they began to retreat, Joey smirked in satisfaction; most of them had fled, and those who hadn't were quickly doing so.

"I think we've all learned a valuable lesson here…" he mused.

"Joey, look out!" Mai yelled.

He paid for his lapse in concentration as Hirutani came bearing down upon him, throwing him to the ground. He didn't move for a moment, causing Mai to gasp. But Joey had a plan—a plan he had learned from one of their allies who he didn't know too well, but who, unfortunately, had vanished at the Sorceress' hands and was now presumed gone. He waited until Hirutani stepped forward to inspect his handiwork, and then he got up, swinging his arm upward in an uppercut.

Hirutani roared as his center of gravity was compromised. He had been standing by the edge of the pier, and with another yell, fell into the water with a splash.

"Joey, I think some of the Sorceress' monsters are coming…!" Mai said, hearing armored footsteps approaching.

Hirutani yelled, horrified as the water monsters, who had previously attacked the monster he had thrown in the water, were now turning on him, their teeth sharp and gnashing.

Joey glanced at him and then to the direction that the minions were coming from.

"Mai, can you summon some monsters and get out of sight? Just hold off those minions for two minutes."

Mai nodded, summoning the Harpy's Pet Dragon.

Joey summoned his Red Eyes and the Legendary Fisherman. Sending the Fisherman in to hold off the water monsters, he had Red-Eyes hold him over the water as he extended his hand to Hirutani.

"What are you doing…!?" Hirutani asked, stunned.

"I'm doin' calisthenics," Joey replied, sarcastically. "What does it look like I'm doin'!? You want be in the water like a sitting duck when those minions arrive!?"

Hirutani hesitated, fearing a trap. But, at last, he took Joey's hand, and the Red-Eyes carried both of them to the Pier.

"Get going," said Joey. "They'll be here, soon."

He went to the hiding place where Mai was, recalling the Legendary Fisherman. Hirutani stood where he was for a moment and then fled, unable to figure Joey out.

"That was an incredible thing you just did," said Mai. "Not many people would've helped him if they'd been treated by him the same way he had treated you."

"Yeah…" sighed Joey. "Guess I'm just too nice for my own good. I really did mean what I said about not leaving him to that fate."

"You're a man of your word, Joey. That's admirable," she replied. "Not to mention honorable."

"Yeah…" Joey replied, a hint of pride returning to his voice. "Guess so…!"

He fell silent as some of the Sorceress' minions arrived. The Red-Eyes and Pet Dragon roared and swooped in warning, diving at the monsters, forcing them to retreat.

"They'll be back with more of those creatures," said Joey. "Now's our chance to get back to the base before they come."

Mai nodded, and the two recalled their dragons as they headed for their warehouse. Atem was standing guard, and the Pharaoh's spirit blinked as he saw them return, running.

"Are you alright…?" he asked them.

"Yeah, but there're going to be some monsters searching the area," said Joey, as he lifted up the trapdoor in the floor. "I'd stay out of sight if I were you."

"Don't worry about me," Atem assured them. As a spirit no longer bound to the Millennium Puzzle, he could easily make himself invisible if he chose to do so. "You get to where it's safe; I'll keep an eye on things here. Mahad and Mana will help if things get too sticky."

The two nodded.

"Good luck," said Mai, heading down the trapdoor first.

Joey paused for the moment, looking out the window one last time. The pier was empty, but it wouldn't last—he knew that all too well.

"I miss the old Domino," he said, quietly.

"If there's anyone who can ensure that we'll see it someday again, it's you and the others," Atem replied.

"You really believe in us, don't you?" Joey mused.

"Why not? Your track record speaks for itself."

"Guess so…" Joey replied again, a hint of a smile returning to his face. He thanked Atem and headed down the passageway, his hand reaching up to close the trapdoor behind him.

_Someday_, he repeated to himself.


End file.
